Britain needs to offer certainty to firms, clarify Brexit plan-Hammond

MANCHESTER, England - 2 October 2017: The sooner the British government can clarify how the country plans to leave the European Union, the quicker the economy will start growing again, finance minister Philip Hammond said on Monday.

At the Conservative Party's annual conference in Manchester, northern England, Hammond told BBC radio that uncertainty was hurting business confidence but the government had decided on an around two-year transition period to help ease Brexit.

"There are short-term challenges and the uncertainty created by the Brexit negotiation process is one of them," he said.

"The sooner we can clarify that, the sooner we can get some clarity, the sooner we can move forward, give businesses and investors more certainty about the future, the quicker this economy will start growing again."